LOCATION KERSHAW GA+FL SC TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Thermic, uncoated Typic Quartzipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Kershaw coarse sand--on a convex, southeast facing 3 percent slope in forest. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 2 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coarse sand; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; single grained; loose; common fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
C1--2 to 9 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) coarse sand; common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) splotches and streaks; single grained; loose; common fine roots; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
C2--9 to 63 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) coarse sand; single grained; loose; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C3--63 to 83 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) coarse sand; single grained; loose; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C4--83 to 104 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) coarse sand; single grained; loose; strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the C horizon is 40 to more than 120 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Irwin County, Georgia; approximately 2.1 miles southwest of Irwinville on Georgia Highway 32.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout. The 10-to 40-inch control section contains less than 5 percent silt plus clay.
The A horizon has hue 10YR, value 3 to 5, and chroma 1 or 2. Eroded areas may have colors of the C horizon. Texture is coarse sand, sand, or fine sand.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value 5 to 8, and chroma 3 to 8. Streaks, stripping, and splotches may occur in a few pedons below 60 inches in shades of white, yellow, or brown but do not indicate restricted drainage. Texture is coarse sand, sand, or fine sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These include the Fripp, Newhan, Ortega, and Penney series in the same family. Fripp soils are on dunes adjoining beaches and waterways along the coast and are subject to flooding. Newhan soils are along the coast, are affected by salt spray, and have calcareous shell fragments in the profile. The moderately well drained Ortega soils have a water table between 3.5 and 5.0 feet below the surface during much of the year. Penney soils have lamellae below a depth of 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kershaw soils are on uplands and dune-like landscapes. They formed in thick beds of sand, mostly of marine origin. Slopes range from 2 to 15 percent. The elevation ranges from 35 to 500 feet. Surface shape and location of some areas is suggestive of old dunes. Kershaw soils are known locally as scrub oak sand ridges. The average annual air temperature ranges from 60 to 71 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation ranges from 45 to 55 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Alaga, Alapaha, Chipley, Lakeland, Troup, and Wando series. Alaga, Chipley, Lakeland, and Wando soils have more than 5 percent silt plus clay between 10 to 40 inches. In addition, Alaga soils are somewhat excessively drained, Chipley soils are somewhat poorly drained, and Wando soils are well drained. The poorly drained Alapaha soils are in lower adjacent positions and have Bt horizons 20 to 40 inches below the surface. The somewhat excessively drained Troup soils have Bt horizons 40 to 80 inches below the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; rapid or very rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mostly for woodland. A few areas have been cleared and planted to coastal bermudagrass or bahiagrass. Native vegetation consists of turkey oak, bluejack oak, and scrub live oak with scattered longleaf pine as the overstory and scattered rosemary, palmettos, and clumps of thin grasses are in the understory. Lichens cover the surface in some of the open places.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal Plain regions of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and possibly Alabama and North Carolina. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Tift County, Georgia; 1947.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to approximately 2 inches (A horizon).
Depth to seasonal water table is more than 6 feet.
SIR=GA0016
MLRA=133A, 133B, 137, 153A